ISLAMABAD: Over 3,300 Pakistani companies joined the Dubai Chamber of Commerce (DCC) in the first quarter of 2023, confirmed the country’s top diplomat in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday, adding the development reflected the dynamism of Pakistani businesses and the increasing attractiveness of the UAE as an investment destination.
A total of 30,146 new companies joined the DCC during the first quarter, the chamber said in a statement issued this week. India topped the list with 6,717 new companies, followed by the UAE which registered 4,445 firms. Pakistan ranked third with 3,395 new business entities securing the DCC membership, showing a 59 percent increase from the first quarter of the last year. Overall, the number of Pakistani companies with the DCC has reached 40,315.
A statement quoted Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, the DCC president and CEO, as saying that the diversity of nationalities represented among the new companies highlighted the vibrancy of Dubai’s dynamic business environment.
“It is indeed a positive development that underscores the resilience and entrepreneurial potential of the Pakistani business community and diaspora,” Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi told Arab News over the phone from Abu Dhabi.
He said the development also underscored the strong economic fundamentals of UAE’s economy.
“UAE, under its able leadership, is focused on diversifying its economy through global economic partnerships and will present profitable business opportunities in different sectors in the medium term,” the envoy continued, adding that Dubai was an ideal place from where Pakistan could do business with other Gulf states and the rest of the Middle East.
“During the last year, the number of Pakistani expatriates increased from around 1.6 million to 1.8 million in the Emirates,” he informed while pointing out that Pakistanis were participating in every sector of UAE’s economy.
Tirmizi mentioned that many of those who had arrived in the Gulf country were entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers, bankers, and laborers.
Pakistan’s diplomatic mission facilitated the country’s businesses by maintaining an active liaison with the DCC and sharing new opportunities with the chambers in back home along with members of the Pakistani diaspora.
“In recent years, our trade linkages with the UAE have further expanded, which has encouraged entrepreneurs and businesses based in Pakistan to establish local offices and also register themselves with local chambers,” the ambassador said.
He noted the mission had played its due role in facilitating trade by addressing issues such as the non-tariff barriers.
The embassy also brought several Pakistani firms, belonging to healthcare, food, information technology, tourism and other sectors, to attend trade fairs.
“These events provide entrepreneurs with much needed exposure to markets in the UAE, and many businesses have subsequently established their presence in Dubai,” he added.
Tirmizi said the Pakistani mission had also played its role in fast-tracking a bilateral economic partnership agreement with the UAE which would be signed by the end of September.
“This agreement presents potential opportunities in both goods and services sectors,” he informed. “Businesses, it seems, are positioning themselves to take full advantage of this partnership.”
Speaking to Arab News, Fakhruddin Diwan, chairman of the Pakistan-UAE business council at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), agreed the inclusion of more Pakistani companies in the DCC was a huge achievement.
“With this opening of the UAE market for Pakistani products, we will automatically be able to strengthen our foreign reserves due to an increase in exports,” he told Arab News.
He maintained that Dubai was a hub of international activities and tourism, adding it would also increase the exposure of Pakistani companies to a much wider consumer base across the globe.
Pakistan records over 3,300 company registrations in Dubai Chamber of Commerce in 2023
https://arab.news/6cnat
Pakistan records over 3,300 company registrations in Dubai Chamber of Commerce in 2023
- Business community says the development has opened the entire Middle Eastern market to Pakistani products
- Pakistan registered the third highest number of companies with the DCC after India and the United Arab Emirates
Pakistan urges ‘time-bound and irreversible’ path to Palestinian statehood at UN
- Pakistan warns the Security Council Israeli settlement expansion has reached its highest level in the West Bank
- It says Islamabad backs sustained ceasefire, expanded humanitarian access, protection of UNRWA’s role in Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday called for a time-bound and irreversible political process leading to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, urging the international community to move beyond declarations and turn long-standing commitments into concrete action.
Addressing a Security Council briefing on the Middle East, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations said repeated diplomatic initiatives had underscored that the status quo was untenable and that only a credible political horizon, grounded in international law, could deliver durable peace.
His remarks came as the Security Council reviewed the implementation of Resolution 2334, which calls on Israel to halt settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory.
Pakistan said recent diplomatic efforts — including a high-level conference in July and the General Assembly’s endorsement of the New York Declaration reaffirming the two-state framework — had sought to preserve the possibility of a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.
It said follow-up meetings at Sharm El-Sheikh, along with US-led initiatives under President Donald Trump aimed at halting the fighting, were intended to reopen a political process toward Palestinian statehood.
“A time-bound and irreversible political process, anchored in relevant UN resolutions must lead to the establishment of a sovereign, independent and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Asim Iftikhar Ahmad told the council.
“It is high time to turn promises into action and speed up this process,” he added.
Ahmad said Pakistan backed Security Council Resolution 2803, which calls for efforts to sustain the ceasefire, expand aid access and restart a political track toward Palestinian statehood.
He said settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, had reached its highest levels since the United Nations began systematic monitoring, citing UN findings that more than 6,300 housing units were advanced during the reporting period.
Such actions, he said, had “no legal validity” under international law but continued to undermine the viability of the two-state solution.
Pakistan also defended the role of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), saying it remained indispensable for Palestinian refugees and must not be weakened by what it called unfounded criticism.
Ahmad condemned the storming of UNRWA’s headquarters in East Jerusalem earlier this month, calling it a violation of international law and the inviolability of UN premises, and urged full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza, along with the immediate start of reconstruction without annexation or forced displacement.
